Battery Life Tips and Tricks

Hey all, just wanted to send some reasons why I get such good battery. You may or may not have the same results by following these tips, and you may not even be able to set them for various reasons. And for some, maybe it will just help a little

-Screen Brightness

Turn auto brightness off (it's been proven in the past to set the brightness higher than you actually need it). When adjusting brightness, use lowest setting possible. This is just common sense.

-Radios

If you aren't using a radio (i.e. GPS, Bluetooth, NFC, WiFi) turn it off. Simple quick tiles for all of these options makes it easy.

-Widgets and Live Wallpaper

These are self-explanatory. Widgets constantly syncing (and using data for that matter) are battery suckers, as well as any live wallpapers. Fun yes, but it comes at a cost.

-Push Notifications (from Apps)

If you don't need them, and the app allows for this setting, turn off push notifications. And sync at the lowest possible frequency (manual is still best). You apps will update data when you open them, just have a little patience (of course for various reasons you may NEED push notifications).

-UI specific

-Smart Power

Less CPU means less battery.

-Scheduled Ultra Power Save

UPS mode is not the same as Do Not Disturb. Schedule this mode while you are sleeping (unless you physically turn your phone off at night). Also, painstakingly go through the "Power Management For Apps" settings in Power Manager. Set savings for every app, and don't forget to do it for apps you add later on!

-Turn off Notifications

If you have apps that you do not need to notify you of anything, then turn them off.

-Turn Animations off

You need Developer mode on for this, the settings are found in there.

-Wallpapers (Dark)

AMOLED screens will only light pixels when they need to. And the less light needed the less battery consumption. Having a dark or black background not only prevents screen burn-in, it also saves battery.

-Browse when you can vs. App

Simple. If you can get the same thing done on a browser that you can in an app, don't download the app. I always go back to the same example for this. Facebook. One of the worst resource intensive apps available. So I deleted it and access it from my browser. My device breathed a sigh of relief when I deleted that one

-Use a battery Monitor

This is in cases where you think your battery is draining fast. Otherwise, yes, they drain your battery

-Disable unused apps

There aren't many left anymore, but there are a few apps that ZTE allows you to disable. I went through and did that.

-Turn off Google Hotwords

OK Google, voice assist, whatever they are calling it disable it. Now there is a catch with this one. You can leave OK Google on for Google search, but make sure you set the Always Listening option to off.

-Turn off Haptic Feedback

Battery sucker period.

-Location services

You seen it before, apps want to track your location to "help provide better search results" etc. etc. It also helps suck your battery dry. Turn this off when possible, set your weather city manually, and don't allow apps to track you. (Thanks ​)

Most of this is just common sense. I am a lighter user than most, so I can take advantage of *most* of these options. Just be careful, as changing these settings may have adverse effects on how you want some of your apps to run. I suggest doing them little by little and testing before moving on.

I compare mobile device battery saving to "hyper-miling". Hyper-miling is an attempt by drivers to get the very best gas mileage they can from every tank of gas. Some ways they do this is by coasting to stops from as far a disatance as they can, running stop signs, taking turns at high rates of speed, rerouting commutes for optimal performance (sometimes taking a longer router saves gas, i.e. less hills, or less stoplights). Anyway, the more you pay attention to your battery life, the more you can make it last.

Thanks!

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Comments

Thanks for the tip.. however, it kind of defeats the purpose of using the phone as it was "intended" to be used as? Coming from an iphone for years, none of this is ever really ever a concern. But I guess that is the big difference between ios and android. There is much more customization possible with android, which leads to potential battery drain. Not having widgets or live wallpaper, etc.. one might as well go back to an ios device.

Sorry if you misunderstood. I switched from ios to android because I wanted the customization that android provides. I was just merely stating that if I turn off everything that makes android an android, it will be like going back to an iphone. Also people who get days worth of battery life, which I know is possible, use the phone just as a phone. I, however, would say that i am a medium-heavy user that likes using the phone for what it was made to be used as. There will be of course a sacrifice in battery life.

The bad battery life is just something I am getting use to. I have chargers at multiple locations (work, house, car, work bag, etc).

It's not for everyone, ​. But it wasn't meant to be followed word for word. Just maybe something you've never thought of before. And you are right, Android devices do not get the same battery life as iOS devices, because their software is well written and not very customization. All depends on what you want for trade-offs

And I do appreciate the write-up @hollap that you did. I definitely took some of your advice and applied it to my phone. Hopefully I will see a slight improvement. Just having had the note 7 for a few weeks till the recall, I was getting poor battery life and had thought it was just a Samsung/bloatware issue. But after getting the Axon 7, I realize the things I normally want to do with a phone, android is not best optimized for that and there will be a sacrifice in battery life.

​ is right...it does take some time and knowledge to determine if settings will really affect the way you use your phone or not. That's why I mention to go slow. Make changes little by little so you can always roll them back if they adversely affect performance or functionality.

Yeah ZTE people FYI, after the update, the battery really drains fast. I don't even have to do ANY of the tips here and my battery lasts for DAYS before the update even with ok google on and having auto screen bright on. Hopefully you can sort it out on Nougat update for zmax pro.

As far as screen brightness goes, there is an additional optimization/customization that can be made: use an app to further reduce brightness during evening or night time.

I personally use Night Screen, and it allows me to further reduce the screen brightness below the lowest level enabled by default. It is especially useful when using in bed at night and the level of light required is truly minimal (and prevents your wife from waking up due to the light and killing you).